1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and in particular to an electrical connector mounted to a circuit board wherein at least a portion of the connector is located below the circuit board thereby reducing the height of the connector above the circuit board thus more efficiently using an interior space of a device in which the circuit board is mounted.
2. The Prior Art
Connectors to be fixed on a circuit board usually include mounting means, such as boardlocks, to be mounted to the circuit board. Examples of such connectors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,721,473, 4,824,398, 4,842,552, 4,907,987 and 5,066,237.
In FIGS. 1 and 2 of the attached drawings, a conventional electrical connector 10 is shown. The connector 10 comprises an insulative housing 16 to which two boardlocks 12 are fixed by means of fasteners 14. The fasteners 14 also secure a metal shell 18 to an outer face of the housing 16. The boardlocks 12 comprise resilient sections or legs that elastically deform during insertion into holes provided on a circuit board 22. A plurality of terminal pins 20 are partially received and retained in passages formed in the housing 16 by means of a retaining plate 24. Tail ends of the terminal pins 20 extend beyond the connector housing 16, usually from a bottom face of the housing 16, and electrically engage with the circuit board 22. In such a conventional arrangement, the connector 10 is positioned on a top surface 22a of the circuit board 22 so that electronic elements, such as memory module and power transistor, must also be mounted on the top surface 22a. Thus, the opposite bottom surface 22b of the circuit board 22 does not have any elements mounted thereon.
Following the trend of minimization of electronic devices, space efficiency becomes a major challenge for computer designers. Thus, it is desirable to have an electrical connector which promote use of both surfaces of the circuit board.
Furthermore, in the conventional design shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the terminal pins 20 are secured to the housing 16 only by the retaining plate 24 which is retained on the housing 16 by means of two barbed arms 26. Such a weak mechanical coupling may cause the retaining plate 24 to be easily deformed and thus become separated from the housing 16, leading to detachment of the terminal pins 20 from the connector 10.
Hence, it is desirable to have an electrical connector structure that overcomes the problems discussed above.